Winter getaways: Birding adventures in NorCal

In Northern California, this is the season for epic wildlife shows. The midwinter phenomenon of winged migration is in full feather at refuges around the region.

At the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, visitors can witness the stunning sight of thousands of snow geese lifting into the sunset in a synchronized fly-off. At the Woodbridge Ecological Reserve, west of Lodi, squadrons of greater sandhill cranes render first-time observers speechless. And at Elkhorn Slough on Monterey Bay, kayakers’ heads swivel like owls’ to absorb the abundance of migrating grebes, loons and other birds that find sustenance in the estuary.